Intro to Bittersweet Reality
by the articulate panda
Summary: When Annie overhears Jeff confessing his feelings for her to Britta, she also hears some things she didn't want to hear. Eventual JeffxAnnie - COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Troy and Abed had decided to invite the study group over for a screening of Prometheus. It was a Friday night and Jeff should probably have somewhere else to be, but he didn't. This was becoming a regular pattern for Jeff. Spending his Friday nights with the study group. Well, to be honest, it wasn't just the study group he was there for. Mainly Annie. They had become so close over their third year of Greendale. She was basically his best friend. Over the Christmas holidays he had even opened up to her about finding his father. She had even opened up about her damaged relationship with her parents. They told each other everything. Well, everything except for the way they felt about each other. He knew it was wrong for him to have feelings for her and he tried to suppress those feelings but every time she looked at him; smiled at him; gently brushed past him; he couldn't stop the way those pesky butterflies encompassed his stomach. No, she was too young. 15 years too young. But, I guess it wasn't inappropriate for him to hang out with her, right? Even if he did take a sneaky glimpse when her top sometimes slipped a little low or her skirt rose a little too high. That's what any normal guy would do, right? His feelings for Annie continued to confuse him every day but he figured it was easier to just keep things the way they were. Getting into a relationship with her just seemed too difficult to deal with.

"Jeff, is this spot taken?" Annie asked as she pointed to the empty seat on the couch next to Jeff.

"Oh, uh, no. Sit down." He replied with a smile in her direction. He had recently realised that every time he smiled at her, she would return it with a beautiful smile of her own. He also realised that he was beginning to smile at her a lot more because of this.

"Oh man I'm so excited to watch this! Hopefully it's just like Alien. I wanna see creepy things bursting out of people and shit. It's scary but kinda sexy at the same time." Said an ecstatic Troy. At these words Jeff, Britta and Annie all looked at him strangely.

"Darn. I wish Shirley could have made it. She would have baked us all cookies for the screening." Said Abed.

"Abed, what have we all decided about Shirley and her baking?" said Britta sternly.

"Not to encourage it." Said Abed in a monotone voice. "but you can't deny how delicious her cookies are!"

"Abed." Said Jeff. Abed took the cue from Jeff to shut up. He pressed the play button and the film began. Jeff got bored about an hour in and started to lose focus on what was happening. It seemed that Annie was also losing interest when she slowly began to lean into him. She eventually managed to place herself right in Jeff's side, with her head resting on his shoulder. Jeff felt awkward because all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her. She looked so cute and tiny against his manly frame. Stop it Jeff, he thought. It's wrong and you have to stop thinking like this. But…putting his arm around her wouldn't cause any harm, right? That's what friends do sometimes, they hold each other.

He slowly moved his arm out from under her. She jerked at the sudden movement. At first she was upset, thinking that he was signalling for her to get off him. She was relieved when he pulled his arm up, draped it over her and pulled her back into his side. She nestled her head into the corner where his shoulders met his neck. See? That wasn't too bad was it Jeff? Oh shit…now he had a perfect view down her top. How was any guy supposed to ignore that? So, for the last hour of the film Jeff struggled to stop looking at Annie's perfectly formed cleavage. Suddenly the credits started rolling on the screen and Jeff managed to pull his eyes away from Annie's chest.

"That was good. Not as good as it should have been. But still good." Said Abed.

"That…was…AWESOME!" yelled Troy. Annie pulled herself up off of Jeff and straightened her hair and clothes. As she yawned she stretched her arms out and rose up on her toes. Dammit if it wasn't the cutest thing Jeff's ever seen.

"Night guys." Said Annie as she slowly made her way to her room.

"I should probably make my way home too." Jeff said as he stood up and made his way to the door. Britta jumped up and stopped him at the front door, away from everyone else that was still in the living room.

"Jeff, wait! I need to talk to you about something." She said.

"Oh god, what is it? I've already told you I'm not going to start seeing you as my shrink."

"No it's not that. Look, I just…" she struggled to find the words she was looking for. "Don't hurt her." Britta finally said. Jeff raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" he replied. Even though he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Annie. Just…please don't hurt her."

"Britta, there's nothing…" she started to cut him off.

"Don't say that there's nothing because everyone knows that's a lie. I saw you two contently cuddled up tonight. Look, it's obvious you two have something going on and you need to sort it out with her before things get too intense and you end up breaking her heart." Britta finished. Jeff rolled his eyes and walked out the door.

"Good night Britta." He really, really didn't want to have that conversation with her. Or anyone. Ever.

On his drive home he thought, what if he actually did break Annie's heart? He wasn't sure if she liked him enough for him to be able to break her heart but still…it was unpleasant to think about. Annie was possibly the last person he'd ever want to hurt. After all, disappointing her was like choking the little mermaid with a bike chain. He just couldn't deal with that. Maybe he should take a step back from her for a bit so that they both knew that they were just friends. But would that mean he would have to stop hanging out with her as much? He liked her company in a completely platonic way…usually platonic anyway. Sure he would miss being close to her and being able to sneak a peek down her top but there were plenty other women whose tops he could look down, right? Right. I think…


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the feedback guys! I am aware that I sometimes go from third person narrative to first person. It's a problem I've always had with my writing. But I've started a degree in Creative Writing so hopefully I'll be able to kick the habit soon! _

The infamous Greendale Seven sat around the table of study room F. It was the beginning of their fourth (and hopefully) final year at the college and they still hadn't decided on a subject that they all could take.

"How about philosophy?" said Britta. Jeff and Annie both groaned at this suggestion.

"The study of wisdom and existence. Does that sound like something I'd be interested in? No thanks. I'm already a master of wisdom anyway." Jeff said curtly.

"How about physics?" said Annie.

"Ugghhhhh" moaned the entire group.

"Physics is used to answer the questions that philosophy poses. It's like philosophy but with numbers, which makes it way, way worse." Said Jeff.

"Oooh!" exclaimed Shirley as she flipped through the pages of Greendale's course guide. "There's an intermediate baking class!" the group went silent and Shirley's big smile began to fade as she realised that her suggestion wasn't well received.

"So…philosophy it is then?" said Jeff as he rolled his eyes. The rest of the group nodded in agreement. Philosophy couldn't be too difficult. There is no right or wrong answer in philosophy so you could just make everything up. At least, that's how Jeff saw it anyway. And besides, nothing could be worse than a baking class at Greendale.

Everyone got up to head off to their individual classes. Shirley was muttering something about the intelligence required to bake and Pierce was heard from the hallway shouting "if you like baking so much, why don't you marry it!"

Troy, Abed and Britta walked out together and Jeff saw a slight 'hand-holding moment' between Troy and Britta. He found it strange that he hadn't even cared about the two of them hooking up. He actually thought it was…kind of…cute. Dammit he was getting too soft and the girl standing in front of him was no help.

Jeff looked down at Annie who was waiting for him to pack up their books so that they could walk to their next class together.

"Annie, can I ask you a favour?" he said as he paid more attention to his books than to her. He tried to avoid looking into her eyes because he constantly found himself getting lost in them.

"Sure. What's up?" replied a very eager Annie. She loved helping people out. That's why he liked having her as a friend so much, he could count on her.

"I kinda failed philosophy in high school and I'm just not too sure how I'm going to go this time round. I mean, I'm totally happy to do philosophy this semester, it's better than physics or baking, it's just that…I might need some help. Would you mind?" Little did Jeff know that he had just asked Annie her dream question. Asking Annie for private help with study was like taking a girl on a date to her favourite restaurant.

"I'm sure you'll be fine Jeff. You're a smart guy. But if you need me I'm happy to help" she said as she flashed him a smile and battered her eyelashes.

"Thanks" he smiled back at her. "But, can you not tell the rest of the group? It's kinda embarrassing."

"No problem, I understand." She finished. She loved the fact that she was going to be having secret meetings with Jeff, even if it was just for study. She was excited to just spend more one-on-one time with him really.

Uh oh. He had caught himself staring stupidly into her eyes. He couldn't keep letting himself do that! He looked like some love-struck teenager who was only just hitting puberty and beginning to awe at girls. All of a sudden his hand was caressing the side of her head. Shit. When did his brain tell his hand to do that? Before he realised what he was doing, he had pulled the bobby pin from the top of her head. Her luscious brown hair fell from where it had been pinned and sat itself beautifully down the side of her face. She looked at him; confused. He looked back into her eyes and smiled as he took a deep breath. He'd been caught off guard.

"Sorry. You just…I dunno. I guess I just like the way you look with your hair down." He said. He cursed himself for sounding so stupid and soppy. Annie blushed and muttered a 'thanks'. Jeff shifted his books in his arms and cleared his throat in an attempt to clear the awkward atmosphere. 'Casual. Just be casual Jeff' he kept telling himself.

"Milady" he said as he held his elbow out for her to grab. Annie blushed again.

"Milord" she responded. She hooked her arm around his and they walked to their next class. Their conversation immediately went back to what they did over the weekend and how Professor Ian Duncan had spent the summer at an alcoholic rehab and then they speculated over whether Vicki and Fat Neil had actually 'done it'. Jeff wasn't sure if he liked how quickly they were able to go from having a special moment between the two of them, to talking about Vicki and Fat Neil having sex. I mean, he liked the special moments, he just wondered what it would be like if they lasted longer and if they weren't immediately ignored afterwards.


	3. Chapter 3

There was a knock at the door. Jeff got up from his comfortable position on the couch (he'd sat there all day watching Family Guy) to answer the door. He opened it to find Annie standing there in baggy track pants and a slim-fitting white long-sleeved top.

"Hey thanks for coming." He said brightly.

"No problem. Have you started revising for the quiz tomorrow?" she replied.

"Let's just say I'm glad you're here to help me now."

She smiled back at him, stepped into his apartment and walked over to the dining table to put her heavy pile of books down. Gosh she looked so cute when she was dressed laidback. Annie pulled out one of the chairs and crossed her legs as she sat down on it. She had her hair down. He wondered if she'd kept it down because of what he had said the other day in the study room. Suddenly the voice inside his head told him to stop thinking about pointless things and focus on the philosophy quiz. The voice inside his head was right.

After ten minutes of discussing revision questions with Annie he was already confused. It didn't help that her top was kinda see-through and he could make out the lace pattern of her bra.

"Okay so, if A is B, C is D and A is D, then is B equal to D?" Annie said slowly in almost a patronising tone.

"Ugh! I don't know! Yes? B must be equal to D because A is equal to D and B is A!" Jeff said angrily.

"Well the professor has written the answer as: no, not necessarily." Annie even had a perplexed look on her face.

"Not necessarily?" Jeff exclaimed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

"I don't know…" Admitted Annie as she slumped in her seat.

"This sucks. I wish I was still watching Family Guy." Said Jeff.

"Never seen it." said Annie.

"Umm…what!? You've never seen Family Guy? Okay come on, we're watching an episode." Said Jeff as he got up out of his seat and walked over to the couch.

"But we need to study!" Annie protested but Jeff had already hit 'play' and wasn't listening. "Oh fine, one episode then" Annie got up and sat down next to Jeff.

Turned out Annie thoroughly enjoyed the show and they watched four episodes. Somehow throughout these four episodes Jeff had managed to stretch out along the whole couch and Annie had laid herself alongside his body with her head perched on his chest. Neither of them was sure how they came to be laying in each other's arms but that's how it ended up. They eventually reached the end of the disc and that was when Annie got up from Jeff's embrace.

"Well that was good. Unproductive but good." said Annie with a smile. In order for her to get off the couch she had to first straddle him. Jeff noticed this and realised that he should probably just sit up so that she could leave. Within a few seconds he'd decided that he would rather lie there and let her straddle him. And oh, it was a good decision. As she put one leg over him to get off the couch she suddenly felt so comfortable sitting on his hips that she just stopped and sat there. Staring at him. Straddling him. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"You look pretty comfortable there." She said. He looked at the playful smile she had on her face. Holy shit, they were actually in a sex position, he thought.

"Ha! Not nearly as comfortable as you look." He replied with a smirk. They both looked at each other wondering if they were thinking the same things. Sexual things. After a moment Annie felt awkward and made her way off the couch to start collecting her things.

Jeff couldn't help but feel disappointed. There was a part of him that really wanted to just rip her clothes off and get hot and sweaty right there on the couch. But it was Annie. She wasn't exactly the type of girl who gets 'hot and sweaty' on people's couches. Or was she? She had been the one who straddled him. She started it! No, he needed to stop convincing himself that Annie was hot for him. She would never have sex with a guy unless she was in a serious relationship. Then again, she's nearly 22. She wasn't the 18-year-old girl he had made out with anymore. Crap. He really needed to quit the back and forth argument in his head.

"Okay well I'd better get home. Need a good night's rest for the quiz tomorrow." Annie said from the door. Jeff suddenly realised she was leaving and he got off the couch to walk her to her car.

"Wait. I'll walk you to your car." They walked out of the building and towards Annie's car in the parking lot, quoting Family Guy the whole way. He stopped at her car and turned to look at her. She smiled back up at him and the way the moonlight hit her face was ridiculous. Dammit, why was he sending her home? He should be dragging her back upstairs and chaining her to his bed for the rest of the night.

"You're not going to pat me are you?" said Annie sighing.

"No." Jeff laughed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a hug. She got up on her toes to put her arms around his neck even though he'd bent down for her. Damn their height difference, they both thought. "Even I know you're too old for pats now." They both smiled as they pulled away from each other. Annie got into the front seat and rolled the window down before she drove off.

"Tonight was fun." She said smiling.

"Yeah" was the only word Jeff could speak at that moment in time. He was apparently too busy thinking about what would've happened if he'd made a move on her when she straddled him.

"Goodnight" she said as she drove off. Jeff watched her until she'd disappeared. He walked back upstairs to his apartment, got into bed and couldn't stop thinking about her. The way she smiled, they way she smelled, the way she giggled when Peter Griffin said something stupid, the way her top was stretched over her perfectly formed breasts. And then he realised, he was really screwed for that philosophy quiz tomorrow. Shit.


	4. Chapter 4

Jeff had just arrived at Greendale's Valentine's Day Dance. The rest of the study group had forced him to come and when he heard Annie telling Shirley about the low-cut dress she planned to wear, Jeff wasn't going to miss it. He was wearing one of his usual suits and he looked a million dollars as he walked through the main doors.

"Look who decided to show up!" Britta walked over to Jeff.

"Yeah well, you know me…don't wanna let anyone down." Britta scoffed. She looked quite nice actually, in a strapless, floor length red dress. Troy wandered over and grabbed her hand to drag her back onto the dance floor. Even Jeff could admit that they were pretty cute together. But then he noticed a woman over at the punch bowl with her back to him. She wore a short, tight black dress that showed off a pair of the sexiest legs he'd ever seen. Before he knew it he was walking over to this woman to introduce himself. He came up behind her and just as he was about to whisper a pick up line in her ear, she turned around.

"Annie!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, Jeff! Sorry, I didn't see you there." Said Annie as she nearly spilled her cup of punch on him when she turned around. 'Holy crap', thought Jeff. It was Annie. The woman he was about to blatantly hit on was Annie. But she looked different. She looked older, sexier. His mind was so confused.

"Jeff…are you okay?" she said.

"Whoa" he said slowly as he looked her up and down. Her dress was ridiculously short and with the black strappy heels her legs looked a mile long. She had curled her hair slightly and put on red lipstick. And…oh man, her dress was seriously low-cut. He'd never seen her breasts so uncovered and so on show. He couldn't stop staring. Annie started to blush. Jeff finally pulled himself together and looked up at her face.

"Oh…um, sorry. I mean, you look…hot." He wanted to say the word 'beautiful' or 'stunning' but he couldn't quite bring himself to say it without feeling like a bumbling idiot. By now Annie had gone bright red.

"Oh, thanks" she said with a small giggle at the end. "You want some punch?" he nodded and she poured him a cup. They stood there talking for a while and slowly re-filling their cups with more punch. After 20 minutes or so (and about 4 cups of punch) Whitney Housten's 'I will always love you' started to play. Jeff looked around at all the couples flocking to the dance floor. He paused before he looked at Annie and raised an eyebrow.

"Milady, care to have this dance with me?" She smiled back at him. Instead of holding out his elbow for her to hold on to, he simply grabbed her hand and laced her fingers with his as he walked her out to the dance floor. They began to slow dance like everyone else and Jeff was suddenly very aware of his hands around Annie's waist. He didn't know where to look. To save himself from awkwardly staring at her breasts he pulled her in close to him so that her head rested on his chest. She seemed to fit perfectly within his large frame and he realised how much he just wanted to cuddle her. He began to notice the silence between them as the music played and their bodies swayed together. He leant his head down until his mouth was at her ear.

"You look beautiful tonight." He whispered to her. She looked up at him with big eyes and a faint smile. She reached up on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks" she whispered back. Jeff looked down at her and wasn't sure what to do next. Was he supposed to kiss her? Did she want him to kiss her? I mean, she looked smoking hot and he knew that he wanted to kiss her but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Uhh, I might go outside for a while. Get some fresh air, you know?" he said quickly and he rushed off outside. She wasn't sure if she'd done something wrong. One second she thought that Jeff was finally going to man-up and kiss her, the next second she was standing alone on the dance floor.

Britta had watched the whole thing and decided to follow Jeff outside. She met up with him in the courtyard.

"What are you doing!?" she asked him, almost angrily.

"Excuse me? I'm just getting some fresh air," replied a confused Jeff.

"Jeff! You just left Annie standing there by herself!" Jeff didn't reply to this. He simply turned his back to her and started to walk off.

"Don't walk away from me Jeff. We need to talk."

"About what!?" he yelled back at her. They were both shocked at his sudden anger.

"Look, just listen to me. Annie really likes you. I don't want to see you play around with her anymore. Just man-up and do something about it." Said Britta.

"Like what?" he asked her. She could tell that he genuinely didn't know what to do. She knew he was scared about his feelings for Annie and she needed to find a way to help him express those feelings.

"She asked me if she could borrow one of my dresses for tonight. She said she wanted to look sexy so that you would stop treating her like a kid."

At this point Annie had decided to follow Jeff outside to ask him if everything was okay. She stopped when she could see him and Britta talking. It was obvious they were having a heated conversation and she didn't want to interrupt so she stood there silently without either of them noticing.

"Annie doesn't have to dress like that to make me think she's a sexy adult. It's not about that. I know she isn't a kid anymore but the point is: she's still Annie. She means everything to me and the thought of hurting her drives me crazy." Said Jeff.

"Well why don't you tell her that? I mean, just tell her _something_! Tell her the truth." Said Britta.

"I can't tell her the truth!" Jeff started to yell and the alcohol in that punch was starting to hit him. He could feel himself getting frustrated. "If I told her the truth about how I feel, she might turn into some psycho girlfriend" He knew at this point he was just making stuff up so that he wouldn't have to deal with the truth. He knew she wouldn't be a psycho girlfriend, he knew she'd be an incredible girlfriend but he wasn't going to admit that to Britta any time soon. "And what if I decided I wanted to break up with her? She'd cry herself to sleep for weeks! She'd write in her stupid little diary about how horrible I am and how I ruined her life."

"Jeff you know that's not true! The two of you aren't like that." Britta protested.

"SHE'S 14 YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME!" he yelled. The age different was the only real comeback he had.

Annie was still standing just a few yards away and she could feel herself well up with tears. This is not what she wanted to hear…ever.

"Oh come on! As if you actually care about the age difference" said Britta.

"It's weird for me to be in love with a girl when I'm nearly old enough to be her Dad."

"You love her?" said Britta quietly. Jeff and Britta paused. Annie's heart nearly stopped.

"No that's not what I said. I'm not in love with her." Jeff protested. Hearing those words come out of his mouth was the final straw for Annie. She burst into tears and turned around to run back inside. For the first time in 10 minutes Jeff and Britta took a moment to realise that Annie had been there the entire time.

"Oh great. That's just awesome." Jeff said as he stormed off to his car.

"Annie!" Britta called out as she ran after her.

Britta finally found Annie sitting on the stairs of the library. She had her face in her hands and was crying uncontrollably. Britta sat down next to her and put an arm around her.

"It's okay Annie," she said. Annie continued to cry before she finally replied.

"I thought he really liked me" she sobbed. "Am I really that delusional?"

"No, of course you're not. Jeff's crazy about you but he just has a hard time admitting it. You're one of his best friends. It's normal for him to be scared and I guess the alcohol just made him say some stupid things tonight." Said Britta in a calming voice.

"I wanna go find him." Annie said as she took of her shoes and stood up.

"Annie, I don't think that's a good idea. You saw how he was. He probably just needs some space."

"No. I want to see him." Annie replied as she took off in the direction of Jeff's car. Britta let her go because she knew there was nothing more she could say. She had to let them figure it out by themselves now.

Annie ran through the parking lot until she found Jeff's lexus. He was standing against it with his hands over his face. His shoulders were moving up and down and Annie realised that he was crying. She'd never seen him cry like this before. She walked up to the car slowly. Her lip starting quaking and she had to force herself not to start crying again.

"Hey" she said. But it came out as more of a tremble as tears started rolling down her face again. He looked up at her. Her make up was smudged from her tears, she was wearing no shoes and she was panting for breath after running to find him. Jeff looked back down at the ground. He felt like the world's biggest douche for hurting her like he had.

"I don't know what to say." He said as he kept looking at the ground. Annie slowly walked up to him. She placed a hand on his face and he looked up at her. He had never seen her look so sad, so raw. He started crying harder.

"It's okay." She muttered. She'd barely finished whispering those words when his mouth crashed into hers and his arms squeezed her tightly into him. The kiss was fast and violent. They both cried into each other's mouths as their tongues fought against one another. He spun her around and threw her up against the side of his car. His hands roamed all over her body while his hips started grinding into her pelvis. They continued their passionate kiss for a few more seconds before Jeff pulled his mouth away and took a step back from her.

"I need to go." He said without even looking her in the eye. He stared at the ground as he got into his car and started the engine. Annie just stood there, lost for words, not really sure what emotions she was feeling. She watched him drive away without saying anything. She bent down to pick up the heels she had dropped and started to walk back inside to find a bathroom and clean herself up. She wasn't sure what had just happened but she knew that wouldn't be the end of it.


	5. Chapter 5

_Okay, so I finally wrote the last chapter. I took me longer than I thought to write because it was so daunting to have to write Jeff's true feelings for Annie. I hope I still managed to capture Jeff's character throughout his speech. It's difficult because I imagine it in my head and it seems very real but as you read it you may imagine a different atmosphere. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think! I'm not thrilled about how this chapter turned out, I'm just glad that I finally got all of Jeff's thoughts down in one speech! _

Jeff was about to drive home when he realised that maybe a taxi was a better idea. Not only was he an emotional wreck, he was also still a bit intoxicated. He got in the back of the taxi and told the driver his address. On the main road outside Greendale he realised he didn't want to go home. He wanted to be with Annie. It could be so easy for him to just go to her and spend the night cuddling and kissing her but he had to talk to her first. He was still so confused about everything, he never expected it to be this way. The only thing he knew for sure, was that he wanted to be with her. He just wasn't sure how to say it. 'Screw it', he thought as he asked the driver to turn around and go to Annie's apartment.

Meanwhile Annie was at home and had just gotten into bed. Troy and Abed were out in the living room watching a Lord of the Rings marathon. She was so upset about everything that had happened with Jeff but the weird thing was, she simply craved his comfort. There was no one else who made her feel comfortable the way Jeff does. She thought about texting him but ended up deciding to just go to sleep and figure it all out in the morning.

She was drifting off to sleep when there was a knock at the door. She heard one of the boys get up off the couch to open it and let someone in. She wasn't sure who it was because all she could hear was mumbling. All of a sudden there was another knock but this time it was at her bedroom door.

"Come in." she said tiredly and confused. The door slowly opened and a head poked inside. The head was followed by a tall body.

"Hey, is it okay if I talk to you?" Jeff said in a whisper. Annie paused before she nodded her head and sat up crossed-legged in her bed. Jeff walked over to her and sat down beside her. There was an awkward silence between them for a moment. Then Jeff carefully reached over and held her hand in his. He looked up at her.

"I'm so sorry about tonight." He said. That was a good start, he thought. He was still incredibly nervous about what he was trying to say so apologising was a good place to start. Annie simply dropped her gaze down to their intertwined hands. She didn't know what to reply. "I screwed everything up tonight and I never wanted it to happen this way between us."

"You never wanted what to happen?" Annie asked.

"Us." He said immediately. "I mean, it's you and me, Annie. There's always been something between us. I knew that eventually _something _would be said or done. It just scared me and I preferred not to think about it."

"Why were you scared?" she looked up at him finally. "I mean, you weren't scared with Britta, you weren't scared with Slater. You were confident with them and you knew what you wanted."

"That's exactly it, Annie. I knew what I wanted with them. I was sexually attracted to them from the moment I met both of them. But with you, you were just a teenager. I felt like I had to look after you or something."

"I'm not a teenager anymore though!" she fought back.

"Hey, it's okay. I know that. That's the problem." He smiled slightly at her defiance. "So, basically you went from being this sweet teenage girl who was helplessly in love with Troy…" Annie rolled her eyes as he said this. She was embarrassed that Jeff had known her back in the day when she was so childish and naïve. "But then we started to become really close friends and I felt so comfortable around you." Jeff was surprised at how everything was starting to make sense as he was saying the words. "Then of course Vaughn came along and I wasn't sure if I was being protective of you in a fatherly way or in a romantic way. You have to imagine how weird that was for me! It was easier for me to choose the fatherly option so that I didn't have to get jealous of you and Vaughn. When you told me you were moving with Vaughn to Delaware I realised that you weren't a kid anymore. Right in front of my eyes you had just grown up and it felt like it happened over night. I think the reason I kissed you that night at the transfer dance is because you were the only person I could talk to about it all. You made me feel so much better and I just…I dunno…you looked so beautiful that night, I guess I was just curious as to what it would be like to kiss you." Jeff paused as he realised how quiet Annie was being throughout his surprisingly long speech. He looked at her until she looked back at him. "That night we kissed, I never called you. I really hurt you didn't I?" he was only just realising how much he hurt her after that kiss. She looked back at him and her lip began to quiver as she nodded her head ever so slightly. "I'm so sorry for that Annie." He said as he wrapped both arms around her and pulled her in close. He dropped his head to the side so that it rested on top of hers. He kissed her forehead to let her know that everything was okay between them before he continued with his speech. It was a long one but he knew he had to tell her everything.

"I think last year was when I really started to struggle with my feelings for you. You were getting older, smarter, more beautiful every day. There were so many moments when I could have just kissed you." Jeff took a deep breath. He had never spoken like this to anyone before. Deep down he knew it was okay because it was Annie. This was probably what she wanted all along. Just to hear an explanation. Annie brushed her hand up over his chest and rested it on his shoulder.

"Keep going." She said.

"The problem is, I screw everything up. There isn't one thing in my life that I haven't screwed up. I guess I was worried that if I told you how I felt and we started dating that I would find some crazy way to just screw it all up. I couldn't bear the thought of that because you're the last person in the world who I'd want to hurt. So, that was my theory for a while. I would just screw everything up with you and it was safer to stay as friends. But then we got closer and I…I realised something. I only realised it tonight after you left." Jeff stopped. He knew exactly what to say he just had to pause to catch his breath. "I thought maybe I wouldn't screw things up with you. I thought maybe I love you too much to ever hurt you." He finished. There was silence between the two. Annie finally pulled out from his embrace and looked at him.

"And?" she said with raised eyebrows. "Is that your new theory?"

"Yeah." He smiled. She smiled back at him and looked down as she blushed. She started fiddling with the collar of his shirt as she concentrated on his chest. She was too nervous to look him in the eye.

"Now you can kiss me whenever you want." She said with a cheeky grin as she moved her gaze up to his. He returned the same grin as he leaned in and caught her lips with his own. The kiss was perfect. It started out slow as they felt their faces mesh together and she started to feel his tongue entering her mouth. She lifted a leg over his body so that she was straddling him on her bed. As she did this they both opened their mouths wide to let each other in. She got up on her knees so that she could lean over him. Jeff enjoyed this as he now had access to ass-grabbing and shirt-removing. He pulled away from her mouth so he could begin nibbling at her neck. Her pelvis was level with his torso and she began grinding into him. After a moment she pulled back and just looked down at him with a smile. Without taking his eyes off hers he grabbed the hem of her shirt and slowly pulled it over her head. God, she had the perfect body, her skin looked so silky. He didn't know what to touch first so he just buried his face in her stomach as he kissed her everywhere. She knew that she was going to enjoy getting used to the feel of his prickly face rubbing against her skin. She had trouble taking his shirt off so he ended up taking it off for her. They both giggled at this and Jeff's ego went soaring as he watched Annie's eyes widen as she looked at his chiselled stomach. She'd seen him topless many times before but never in a situation where it was appropriate to touch or kiss or do anything she wanted with him. She sat herself down on his hips and stroked his chest and abs fondly. He hadn't quite anticipated how beautiful she would look as she straddled him topless and stroked his chest with admiration. He reached out to her and lifted her face with his hands. He drew her in closer so that he could kiss her.

"I love you." He whispered right into her ear.

"I love you too." She said as she kissed his cheek and then cupped his face in her hands and passionately kissed him.

Jeff had never been on a high like this before. The whole night with Annie was just an incredible, beautiful blur. He woke the next morning thinking it had been a dream. But then she rolled over and placed her hand over his bare chest. He kissed her forehead and glided his hand over the dip between her hips and her ribs. He held her close and cursed himself for being so scared of his feelings for Annie for so long. It was so obvious to him now that he had made the right choice last night. This gorgeous girl was now his and he was planning to keep it that way.


End file.
